


Running Home

by RejectsCanon



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Fluff, Found Family, Gen, I love the duke so much, I really don't know what else to tag this, Kinda want to tag jet & longshot too but longshot is only in this briefly :(, Pre-Canon, because it really is just freedom fighters fluff, let the children be children, why are titles so hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:21:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27962975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RejectsCanon/pseuds/RejectsCanon
Summary: Jet knows that his current hiding spot is a dangerous one. He knows that at any moment someone could find him, blow his cover, and catch him. Slowly, ever so slowly, he eases deeper into the hollowed-out tree trunk, sinking deeper into the shadows. All around him, he can hear shouts and yells, the pounding of running feet, but still, he stays. He hears people, his kids, his Freedom Fighters, yelling his name, searching for him, looking for him, calling for him. But still, he stays.Jet has two choices; stay here until he’s caught, all but ensuring his doom, or run as soon as the bodies hovering around the entrance disappear. The choice is simple.Jet runs.
Relationships: Freedom Fighters & Jet (Avatar), Jet & Smellerbee (Avatar), Jet & The Duke (Avatar), Jet & The Freedom Fighters
Comments: 10
Kudos: 20





	Running Home

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I'm back and this time I bring with me some Freedom Fighters fluff. I really enjoyed writing this one, so I hope y'all like it! I might put my slightly heavier fics on hold for the time being and focus on just writing fluff because this just felt good to write. Also, if you follow me on tumblr you might have noticed that with the resurgence of yuri!!! on ice, I've been heavily falling back into my yoi phase. Please don't be shocked if I suddenly start writing yoi fics lol. Also, my city just got put on another stay-at-home lockdown, so it's possible I'll be doing more writing and updating again soon! (lets hope I didn't just jinx myself lol)
> 
> Not beta-read, so any mistakes are my own! I hope y'all enjoy!

Jet knows that his current hiding spot is a dangerous one. He knows that at any moment someone could find him, blow his cover, and catch him. He knows this, but still, he stays. Slowly, ever so slowly, he eases deeper into the hollowed-out tree trunk, sinking deeper into the shadows. All around him, he can hear shouts and yells, the pounding of running feet, but still, he stays. He hears people, his kids, his Freedom Fighters, yelling his name, searching for him, looking for him, calling for him. But still, he stays.

  
  


He’s been hiding in this spot for long enough that instead of feeling safe, he feels jittery. Like it’s only a matter of time before someone finds him. All day, Jet and the other Freedom Fighters have been alternating between running and hiding. Running to get away from those chasing them. Hiding for just a brief moment in the hope of catching their breath. There’s adrenaline coursing through all of them, Jet is sure of it. Making them run faster, climb higher, breathe harder.

The need to run, the need to hide, the need to  _ not get caught  _ is one that they’re all familiar with. Jet has been running and hiding for as long as he can remember. It comes as naturally to him as breathing. Running and hiding has only recently taken a backseat to fighting. He can’t fight now, though. That’s not what this is, not what this situation calls for. The adrenaline coursing through him makes his fingers itch for his blades, and he has to remind himself sternly that  _ now is not the time.  _

Jet holds his breath as feet run by the entrance to his hiding spot. This spot is risky, and he can’t stay here much longer. Sooner or later, someone will find him and he’ll be stuck, unable to get away. There’s no exit where he is now, only the one opening in front of him that he’d hastily tried to block with leaves and branches. He’s surprised no one has gotten suspicious yet. 

Jet has two choices; stay here until he’s caught, all but ensuring his doom, or run as soon as the bodies hovering around the entrance disappear. The choice is simple.

Jet runs. 

As soon as Jet is out in the open, the shouts of his name increase in both volume and number. Jet tries his best to ignore all the shouts, despite his instinct telling him to  _ stop, wait, turn around, go to them _ . This is the one time he can’t let his instinct toward his kids take over, he can’t let himself be pulled back to them, no matter how much his heart is telling him to. 

Spirits, he’s starting to hate the game Tag. 

He should have known by the all too innocent smile on The Duke’s face and the downright smirk on Smellerbee’s, that this was going to suck for him. But no, he had to give in to The Duke’s puppy eyes when he asked if they could play. Sometimes that kid is just too adorable for his own good. Jet swears he could watch The Duke commit high treason with his own eyes and Jet would still believe him when he said he didn’t do it. 

“Come on, someone grab him!” Jet hears. He dodges arms reaching for him and hands grabbing at him. 

“You let him get away! We almost had him!”

“Wait, who’s even it? We need to figure that out first.” Jet almost hesitates, his steps faltering, because that’s information he needs, too. The last he heard, Smellerbee was it, but he doubts she held the title for very long. Most likely, she was only it in the first place by taking it from Longshot, since they’re trying to use him as a lookout.

“Who cares who’s it? Just grab him and then we’ll figure it out!”

“The Duke is it! Smellerbee tagged him earlier!”

_ Perfect _ , Jet thinks. If Smellerbee was still it, he might have had a tougher time with this. But, Jet figures he can manage to stay away from The Duke for a few more hours. He only has to last until sundown, after all. Then again, The Duke has only gotten better at sneaking around lately, so there’s always a chance that he might be able to sneak up on Jet, especially if he’s preoccupied with the others. And if The Duke manages to tag someone else in that time, and Jet doesn’t know, he’ll just be putting himself at a greater disadvantage. 

Jet takes for the treetops, jumping away from bodies that try to grab him, running as fast as he can. He grabs onto one of their ropes and flings himself towards the sky, landing on a branch high off the ground. 

That doesn’t really help much, considering all the Freedom Fighters are as comfortable on the tall branches as Jet himself. More kids come after him, trying to slow him down, and Jet quickly jumps from one branch to another, never staying put for longer than it takes to find his balance and jump again. 

“Ugh, he’s too fast.”

“We just need to get in front of him!”

“Someone get The Duke over here! Maybe we can cut him off.”

Jet  _ may have _ underestimated his kids’ desire to catch him in a game of tag. 

In his defense, he didn’t think they would all work together to try and catch him. In hindsight, he should have expected something like this would happen eventually. Their biweekly game night has quickly gone from ‘just let loose and have fun’ to ‘let’s all work together to catch Jet no matter what’. The last time they played hide-and-seek, Jet had spent the entire time hunched over in a ditch, covered in mud, dirt, and leaves to try and disguise himself. He’d been picking grass out of his hair for  _ days _ . 

(“It’s your own fault,” Smellerbee had told him after. “You’re practically impossible to catch, and everyone sees it as a challenge. I mean, you’ve never even gotten tagged  _ once _ . One of these days everyone’s gonna team up to try and get you.”

“I’d like to see you guys try,” Jet had taunted, arms folded behind his head, and full of confidence.

“See, you say that now but just wait until it happens,” Smellerbee said. “We’re gonna wipe the forest with you.”

“Again, I’d like to see you try. We all know I  _ never  _ get caught.”)

Jet is regretting issuing that challenge now, if only a little. 

_ At least they’re learning teamwork,  _ Jet thinks as he jumps to yet another branch. This one is a bit higher up, and none of the others have gotten there yet, so he takes a moment to think. The longer he stays up in the trees, the more of them will come up here to try and corner him. If he somehow manages to get back on the ground, he can probably keep running until he manages to lose them again.

He’ll have to turn around soon, too. He’s nearing the boundary mark that they set, and he knows if he crosses it for even a second everyone will call foul, and Jet will lose by default. Now that he thinks about it, Jet realizes he’s being pushed towards the boundary, and he just  _ knows  _ there will be an ambush there waiting for him. 

He’s been played. 

Jet can’t help the swell of pride in his chest at his kids managing to outsmart him, even for a little bit. 

Jet pauses, climbing just a bit higher and surveying his surroundings. There’s a decent distance between him and the Freedom Fighters closest to him, so he figures he has a moment or two to think. Jet can’t see any kids on the ground directly below him, but that doesn’t mean they’re just out of sight. What Jet really needs is to figure out how to turn himself around so he doesn’t get much closer to the boundary without getting too close to anyone else.

Taking a quick peek from around the tree shows Jet that, at first glance at least, there are more people coming from the right of him. He still doesn’t see any kids on the ground, even though it’s been a few minutes, and he should at least be able to tell if they were getting any closer. So, Jet figures his best bet is to start heading back to the center from the left, and if he still doesn’t spot any kids on the ground, he’ll leave the trees. 

At least on the ground, there are easier places to hide. He won’t be allowed to hide for long, since this is Tag and not hide-and-seek, but he’ll at least be able to catch his breath. Throughout the few years that they’ve been in this forest, Jet and the others have managed to create quite a few hiding spots, both in the trees and on the ground. Hiding spots on the ground are easier to make, and easier to stay in for long periods of time. The ones in the trees are easier to defend from, which is why they all gravitate towards those. But, for his purposes now, Jet’s not looking to defend, he’s looking to remain untouched until sundown. 

The first thing Jet needs to do, now that he has a plan in his head, is  _ run  _ because Jet notices in alarm that Smellerbee is quickly catching up to him. 

Jet takes off towards the left, jumping to branches in a diagonal so that he’s both going left and towards the center. He can’t be as thorough with checking his surroundings as he needs to be beyond a cursory glance around him. Smellerbee came way too close to catching him, and with her will come others. 

“Oh, come on, Jet. I was almost there,” Smellerbee yells out to him, altering her course to keep following him. 

“You’ll have to try harder than that,” he calls back to her, a laugh in his voice. He hears her groan, and that along with the groans and complaints of a few others, makes Jet laugh even more. He knows none of them are actually upset, this is just a game after all, and none of them are actually poor sports about losing, too eager for any chance of fun to actually care about the outcome.

That doesn’t mean they don’t have competitive streaks, though. Because they all most certainly do. And Jet teasing them like this is  _ definitely  _ calling out to all of their competitive sides. 

Jet keeps jumping from tree to tree, using the vines and ropes they have to propel himself forward and give himself some much-needed momentum. Jet spares a look to the ground while he’s swinging from one vine to another, keeping an eye out for kids below him. He spies a few kids on the ground, running around either looking for him or entertaining themselves. They don’t seem to be looking up into the branches above them, despite the clear noises of their friends running around above them. 

Jet wagers he can make it past them and continue his trek on the ground. 

As quickly and slyly as he can manage, Jet begins to lower himself via branches. He tries to make it seem like he’s just changing directions, so hopefully, no one notices that he’s heading all the way down. Of course, that’s when a harsh whistle sounds through the air, drawing all attention to Longshot up in the trees, high above all of them.

Oh, Jet’s so screwed.

“He’s heading down!” Smellerbee shouts suddenly, startling Jet enough that misses the next branch and goes tumbling down until he lands on a thick branch a few feet from the forest floor. 

Of course, nothing in Jet’s life is ever simple enough to go as planned, because  _ he forgot about Longshot _ . How could he have forgotten? He knew the others were using him for lookout, but he got so distracted by Smellerbee almost catching him that he totally forgot about Longshot himself. 

Jet feels like there’s something more he’s forgetting as well, but he has other things to worry about at the moment. Things like the kids on the ground now noticing him and the kids in the trees moving down as well.

Okay, so now he needs to adjust his plan. Je figures he can keep on the ground for a little while longer. At least, long enough to take him back towards the heart of the forest where their treehouses are. Once he gets close to there, he can use the vines to launch himself back into the trees and onto their infrastructures. Once he’s in their home base, Jet should be able to use all the bridges, buildings, twists, and turns to keep away from anyone trying to catch him. 

With that in mind, Jet jumps the rest of the way to the ground, taking off running as soon as his feet hit the dirt. He takes a sharp left into some of the denser trees and runs as fast as he can to get to the paths he knows so well. He can hear the kids yelling behind him, some laughing, some screeching. Jet doesn’t pause to try and parse out words, but he lets himself smile from hearing his kids laugh so freely. 

Once Jet gets to the trees, he wastes no time in flinging himself into the air and landing on one of the bridges. It’s quiet up here, at least, as far as he can tell, so Jet takes a moment to breathe. 

It’s a lot quieter up here than Jet thought it would be. 

Too quiet. 

Cautiously, he makes his way further into the collection of treehouses, trying to keep an eye out on angles, just in case someone tries to sneak up on him. From down below, he can hear a gaggle of kids gathering at the base of the trees, looking up at him, but making no moves to climb up. From further away, Jet can hear the other kids finally about to catch up with him from the trees. 

Jet ducks into the first room he sees, giving it a cursory glance to make sure no one is already taking refuge in the room. Jet closes the door behind him, but doesn’t stay in the room long, crawling out the small window and heading to another room. 

Jet repeats the process a few times, sometimes doubling back into a previous room to hopefully through the others off. Once he thinks he’s laid enough false trails for them, Jet makes his way into one of the rooms on the edge of their treehouses, one that has a few windows and paths so he can make a speedy escape if necessary. It’s getting close to sundown, Jet can see that the sky is slowly turning a dusky orange, and the sun is close to slipping over the horizon. Jet thinks he only needs to survive for another hour, maybe even less, and then he’ll be home free. 

Satisfied, Jet lets out a small sigh and leans against a wall, letting himself relax for just a minute. They really have been at this all day, running and jumping and climbing nonstop. Jet is starting to feel the fatigue in his limbs, and if  _ he’s  _ feeling it, he just _ knows _ the younger kids are already exhausted. It’s probably why he hasn’t run into anybody yet. Jet hasn’t gone to the main area where they all hang out, either in the trees or on the ground, where he’s assuming some of the kids are taking breaks.

_ Hopefully _ , Jet thinks, a little wistfully,  _ they’ll be so tired that they sleep throughout the night.  _ It can’t be too much to hope that his kids have a nightmare-less sleep after a day of laughter. If Jet were the optimistic type, he’d hope they have dreams as carefree as the day has been. 

Jet is suddenly snapped out of his musing by a quiet creek from behind him. Any other time he might not have noticed, but it’s so quiet in the rooms that every little sound is amplified. Jet whirls around, ready to jump for the nearest window, but before he can so much as take a step, Jet is tackled from behind, small arms coming to wrap around his waist. 

“I got you!” A bright voice laughs from behind him. Jet wriggles around until he’s face to face with his captor, only to find himself looking into the eyes of none other than--

The Duke.

Jet knew he forgot something. How could Jet forget that the Duke was it? A complete rookie move. He should’ve taken into account that The Duke wouldn’t still be out there running around, but up here resting while the others wore themselves out trying to catch Jet. 

“No one has been up here for  _ ages, _ ” Jet tunes back in to hear The Duke saying. He still hasn’t released his grip from around Jet. “So I thought you might come back up here to hide from the others. They were chasing you for a  _ long time. _ And none of the others wanted to come back up here with me in case I tagged them, so I’ve been waiting up here for someone to come. And then you came! And I got you!”

Jet figures he can lament about getting caught later and allows himself to smile at The Duke’s excited speech. Jet reaches down to straighten his helmet, patting him on the back. 

“You sure did,” Jet says. “It was really smart of you to come up here to wait for someone, much smarter than I was about the whole thing.”

“Really?” The Duke asks. Jet reaches down again, this time pulling The Duke up until he’s sitting on Jet’s shoulders in an imitation of how Pipsqueak always carries him. The Duke wraps his arms around Jet’s neck for support, resting his chin on the top of Jet’s head.

“Yup,” Jet says easily, leaving the room and taking them both towards the main area. “I’ve just been running around this whole time without much of a plan. I didn’t think of coming here until way later.  _ And  _ you managed to sneak up on me.”

“It wasn’t that hard,” The Duke says. “I thought you might go to one of these rooms in the middle cause of all the windows. Lots of places to run if someone followed you. Plus, sneaking up on you isn’t very hard if you’re not paying attention.”

“Hey, I was totally paying attention,” Jet tries to defend, even if at that moment he really wasn’t. “Still, of all the rooms to choose from, you picked a really good one. Thought it all out and made a smart guess. And it paid off.”

“It  _ was  _ pretty smart, wasn’t it,” The Duke admits and Jet chuckles a little. “Plus,  _ I caught you.  _ No one’s ever caught you before! And I did!”

“You definitely caught me,” Jet confirms. “I think we can call you the winner on this one. Look, the sun’s setting.”

Jet pauses, pointing out to the horizon where the sun is indeed setting behind the trees and mountainsides. The Duke watches the sunset for a few seconds in silence, before calling out a bright and cheery:

“Guys I won! I caught Jet! He’s it the next time we play tag!”

Jet laughs again when The Duke’s call is immediately met with shouts of joy and congratulations, kids seemingly coming out of nowhere to tease Jet and give The Duke a pat on the back. 

Later that night, they’re all sitting by the campfire and Jet listens happily as everyone chats and laughs about the day. The Duke is still curled up by Jet’s side, having long since succumbed to sleep. Jet will probably have to carry him to bed soon, so he doesn’t hurt his neck from how he’s curled up. 

  
But for now, Jet stays, watching his kids laugh and talk and just  _ be _ , and Jet can’t imagine a more peaceful feeling than this. His kids, his family, all together, and laughing, and happy, no matter how short-lived this moment is. Jet thinks, in a moment of rare and pure sappiness;  _ this is home.  _

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for reading! Like I said before, I really enjoyed writing this one, so I hope you guys liked it as well. As always, here as some links to the various crises happening in the world. Wishing you all a safe and happy end of 2020 :)
> 
> Black Lives Matter petitions, donations, and other resources [here](https://t.co/ScNVY4VxD2?amp=1)  
> If you can’t donate, [here’s](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlhfJSrlPNthnoD1XFDHzmdf6Mpt2pe-2&feature=share) a youtube playlist where all the proceeds from the videos are being donated to BLM charities  
> Yemen Crisis Links [here](https://yemencrisis.carrd.co/)  
> Helping Lebanon Links [here](https://helplebanon.carrd.co/)  
> COVID-19 and others (US specific): [here](https://www.acf.hhs.gov/otip/news/covid-19-resources-services-support)  
> California Fires Info and Donation Links: [Here](https://www.thecalifornian.com/story/news/2020/08/20/california-fires-how-to-help-river-lake-carmel-wildfires/5618698002/)
> 
> [Here’s](https://rejectscanon.tumblr.com/) my tumblr if you want to peruse and enjoy


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